New Bay of Fundy Right Whale Mom's and Calves off Grand Manan

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Laurie Murison of Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station on Grand Manan has been reporting her sightings of Right Whale mothers and calves in the Grand Manan area this summer. Go to Adopt Right Whale News for all the details.

Art

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• Another great grand calf for Kleenex

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 week ago

  The New England Aquarium saw #2123 and her calf today after the team dried out from heavy rain and wind as a storm moved through the area this morning. #2123 was born in 1991 and this is her fourth calf (2...
• 

  Another entangled calf

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 week ago

  We had the Calvineers out today. We didn't find Calvin and her calf but hey were happy with the right whales we saw. The Calvineers are grade 7 and 8 students from the Adams School in Castine, ME. http://w...

   
• 

  Baldy's calf from 1985 and Baldy's grand calf

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 week ago

  We had an absolutely gorgeous, calm day on the Bay of Fundy. When we finally arrived in an area of right whales, it was so calm that the loudest things were whales breathing, after we reminded our passenge...
• 

  Calvin and her calf

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 week ago

  We were fortunate to find Calvin and her new calf September 10th. At first Calvin was by herself, having been feeding and also rubbing in the mud some 180 m below and then she reunited with her calf who al...
• 

  Entangled mother released

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 weeks ago

  September 4th saw the successful disentanglement of a right whale mother named Mavynne. She had been in the Bay of Fundy on August 28th but Friday morning was spotted by recreational fishermen and reported...
• 

  Baldy's eighth baby

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 weeks ago

  Baldy's eighth baby suffered through an entanglement in presumed fishing gear sometime during the migration from Florida to the Bay of Fundy. Already seen by the New England Aquarium research team, Quoddy ...
• 

  Calvin and her second baby are in the Bay of Fundy

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 weeks ago

  Calvin was spotted in the Bay of Fundy by the New England Aquarium research team September 2 with her second calf. Calvin and a number of other right whales were well above the Grand Manan Basin where they...
• 

  Slash off the Wolves

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 weeks ago

  On August 30 a courtship group of right whales was spotted off the Wolves, an island group between Grand Manan and Blacks Harbour, just off the ferry route. A number of right whales have moved in to that a...
• 

  Where are the right whales?

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 3 weeks ago

  It has been an unusual summer with few right whales in the deep waters of the Grand Manan Basin. Over the last few days, 40+ right whales have been found east of the southern Wolves, an island group that y...

  
  
• More right whales have arrived

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 5 weeks ago

  The weekend had more right whales arriving in the Bay of Fundy, with an estimated 40 or more along a narrow stretch. Prior to this, the New England Aquarium had photographed and/or identified 33 d...
• 

  Baldy's calf

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 month ago

  Baldy was seen in the Bay of Fundy August 9th by the New England Aquarium research team during their regular surveys. Baldy's calf has been injured and has marks across the head and also on the tail stock....
• 

  Slash and calf

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 1 month ago

  August 9th, the New England Aquarium research vessel found Slash #1303 and her calf in the Bay of Fundy during their regular surveys. This is Slash's sixth calf. Slash last had a calf in 2005. She is oft...
• 

  Radiator entangled

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 months ago

  We just learned from the Atlantic Large Whale Entanglement Network that Radiator was seen on July 18 towing a round yellow buoy south of Nantucket Island off Cape Cod, MA. He was seen from a charter vessel...
• 

  Right whale mothers and calves arriving

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 2 months ago

  We have had two reports of mothers and calves in the Bay of Fundy, one report was on July 15 by two of our researchers while they were doing a plankton tow in the Grand Manan Basin. The other was on July 1...
• 

  Baldy, Mother of the Year

  

  posted by LDM at Adopt Right Whale News - 4 months ago

  Photo caption: Mother and calf touching – While on the calving grounds off of Florida and Georgia,, calves and mothers are nuzzling, touching and nudging continually over the first couple months of life i...

Bay of Fundy Birds at Grand Manan - August 28, 2009

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Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:40:58 -0300
From: Roger Burrows NatureNB
Subject: White Head birds, inc. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, EASTERN MEADOWLARK

August 28

Ingalls Head 08:45-09:00
adult Bald Eagle, 34 Semipalmated Plovers, 12Semipalmated Sandpipers

White Head Ferry 09:00-09:30
20 Double-crested Cormorants, 53 Common Eiders, 2 Black-bellied & 4 Semipalmated Plovers, Greater Yellowlegs, 8+ Semipalmated Sandpipers, 3 Black Guillemots

White Head Marsh & Flats
immature YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (at White Head Ferry Terminal), 8+ Great Blue Herons, Merlin, 35+ Black-bellied & 16 Semipalmated Plovers, 6+ Ruddy Turnstones, 12+ Semipalmated, 15+ Least & 1+ White-rumped Sandpipers, Black Guillemot, female Belted Kingfisher, EASTERN MEADOWLARK (seen by Jim Leslie & Elderhostelers)

White Head Main Road 10:20-11:00
16 Double-crested Cormorants, 18 Common Eiders, juvenile female Northern Harrier, adult Bald Eagle, subadult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, male American
Kestrel, 3 Chimney Swifts, male Belted Kingfisher, 2+ Boreal Chickadees, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird

White Head Dumpsite 11:10-12:00
2 female Northern Harriers, adult Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, immature Northern Goshawk, subadult Red-tailed Hawk, adult female Peregrine Falcon, Solitary Sandpiper, Chimney Swift, female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (nectaring on Bull Thistle), Least Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Tennessee Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow

Gull Cove 13:00
Osprey, Belted Kingfisher

White Head Ferry Terminal 13:30-14:00
immature YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, adult male Merlin (capturing sandpiper/plover), 65 Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Whimbrels, 100 Semipalmated & 7 White-rumped Sandpipers

White Head Ferry 14:00-14:30
adult Common Loon, 5 Common Eiders, 21 Semipalmated Plovers, 6 Black Guillemots

Marathon Inn afternoon
Philadelphia Vireo

Roger Burrows
Ingalls Head
Grand Manan

Photo Credit: wikipedia.com

Bay of Fundy Whales in Head Harbour Passage

Hey Art and all the readers of I Love Quoddy WILD, we spent the day watching whales in and off Head Harbour Passage and what an amazing day it was!  This afternoon we had at least 10 finback whales, 3 humpbacks (ID'ed as Cork, Inlet and an unknown), minke whales and 3 right whales (the rights were about 1.5 miles off the light).  There were also large schools of tuna...it was awesome!

With this number of whales so close to the islands, especially the ones that raise their tails and with a long weekend coming up I am sure there is going to be a lot of boat traffic around.  All we can hope is that everyone is respectful of the wildlife and takes their time (no speeding) in areas where there are whales.  Please.

Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine

Kim's eagle has landed .... Really!!!

(Nice shot Kim ...Art)

Sending a few you can take your pic!!
Thanks so much
kim

Downeast Birds - Maine Bird Alert, August 28th

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Downeast

On August 23, a juvenile BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was photographed among the estimated 500 shorebirds gathered on the South Lubec sand flats. Another juvenile BAIRD'S was found on the 25th on the south shore of Gleason's Cove in Lubec along with several RED KNOTS.

Lately there have been over 5,000 gulls feeding in Head Harbor Passage off Eastport straddling U.S. and Canadian waters. Among them on the 25/26th were: four LITTLE GULLS [in NB waters - Bill Sheehan], a couple LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, and several dozen BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES.

On August 26, a LEACH'S STORM-PETREL was closer to Deer Island, New Brunswick.

Photo Credit: wikipedia.com

Hawk Watch project to help conserve birds of prey - CBC

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Last Updated: Friday, August 28, 2009 | 11:05 AM AT

CBC News

Hawk Watch co-ordinator Todd Watts points out one of the birds of prey he's monitoring to volunteer Brigitte Noël.
 
New Brunswick will soon know how many birds of prey migrate through the province thanks to a new project called Hawk Watch.

Project co-ordinator Todd Watts is monitoring more than 13 species of birds from the top of Greenlaw Mountain, which overlooks the St. Croix River, near St. Andrews.

The project is expected to help conservation efforts, he said. “Up to this point, no one has done anything like we're attempting to do here. That is, count and identify the hawks during migration,” said Watts.

Read the entire article here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/08/28/nb-hawk-watch.html

Humpback off Wilson's Beach In Head Harbour Passage

Hey Art and all you readers of I Love Quoddy WILD!  We were able to get 2 trips in today despite hurricane Danny moving into the Bay.  Our morning trip took us back off the Wolves were we found large numbers of North Atlantic right whales (30-40).  We saw a few breaches in the distance and we had a mom/calf pair and some courtship behaviour.  Check out the videos on the Quoddy Link Blog.


This afternoon, the winds increased and some fog settled in so we stayed inshore but found a familiar "face" in Head Harbour Passage.  Cork, a 7 year old female humpback we usually see in the offshore area showed up inshore off Casco Bay and made her way over to Wilson's Beach, Campobello!  I attached a few photos, they were taken today...in the rain so they aren't the greatest.


Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine

Right whales off The Wolves

Hey Art, I know the word is out there already about the rights at the Wolves, today the Lubec field team conservatively said there were 40 whales there....it was amazing.  You can check out my video and pictures at the Quoddy Link blog from the past few days with the right whales in the Quoddy Region.

Cheers,
Danielle
Quoddy Link Marine

Rights and a Humpback off Campobello

I went on Island Cruises to see the right whales that were within 2 to 4 miles of the lightstation. We saw one around two miles SE of the light and another around halfway between the lightstation and the Wolves. There were more on the other side of the Wolves, but we did not go that far. When we came back we had a humpback whale right at the lighthouse,

See all the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/headharbourlight/sets/72157622170929990/

  Joyce

Bay of Fundy Morning Glories - Beauty from the Air!

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I was late getting up but there were still some opportunities. Lots more where they came from when you have time! The photo ops in the area, apart from these, filled my chip. The old saying, "my cup runneth over" has new meaning.

So much beauty, - just foolin' around!

Tim

Sunfish, Whales, and Birds at Grand Manan

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Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:44:33 -0300
From: Laurie Murison, NatureNB
Subject: bald eagle movement

There were 3 bald eagles (two adults and one juvenile) seen separately flying from Nova Scotia to Grand Manan today, as well as 2 hummingbirds. These birds were seen when we were heading out for a whale watch south east of White Head Island.

We also saw thousands of Wilson's storm petrels, a few red phalaropes, feeding groups of sooty and greater shearwaters, puffins, northern gannets, flightless common eiders (moulting flight feathers), some cormorants on the move, both parasitic and pomarine jaegars, Arctic terns.

The feeding shearwaters were seen associated with bluefin tuna. We also saw 6 different humpbacks whales, 2 right whales including a male named Necklace, 1 minke whale, about 18-20 fin whales, and several groups of harbour porpoises.

We did see an ocean sunfish a couple of days ago.

Laurie Murison
Grand Manan, NB

Photo Credit: Ocean Sunfish, wikipedia.com

Grand Manan Birds - August 28, 2009

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Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:25:09 -0300
From: Roger Burrows NatureNB
Subject: Grand Manan birds, inc. possible UPLAND SANDPIPER & LONG-TAILED JAEGER and definite immature LARK SPARROW

August 27

Boat Trip from Seal Cove 08:15-13:15

2 Common Loons, 155+ Greater & 45+ Sooty Shearwaters, 4 Leach's & 27+ Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 11 Northern Gannets, 7 Great & 26+ Double-crested Cormorants, possible UPLAND SANDPIPER (seen in flight...brown upperparts, no wingbars or tail pattern, large dark eye on small head, mid-sized straight bill), Short-billed Dowitcher, 33+ Red-necked Phalaropes, light adult Pomarine & light adult Parasitic Jaegers, possible light adult LONG-TAILED JAEGER (with PAJA..I only saw with naked eye but one of the Elderhostelers commented that one of the two had a long tail. Considering the posted afternoon sighting, I suspect these were the same two birds), Great Blue Heron, 290+ Black-legged Kittiwakes, 7 Common & 4 Arctic Terns, 2 Common Murres, 17 Black Guillemots and 31 Atlantic Puffins

Southern Head 13:45-14:45
adult female Merlin, 2 male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Least Flycatcher, juvenile LARK SPARROW (by roadside..very tame and unwilling to fly very far; breastspot just starting to develop)

Long Pond area 15:00-15:45
Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, 4 Least Sandpipers, Brown Creeper

Grand Harbour 15:50-16:00
92+ Black-bellied Plovers, 5+ Red Knots

Roger Burrows
Ingalls Head
Grand Manan

Image Credit: long-tailed jaeger,wikipedia.com

Bay of Fundy Hawk Watch at Greenlaw Mountain

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Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:22:12 -0300
From: Todd Watts, NatureNB
Subject: Todays Hawks

Todays counts from Greenlaw Mountain Hawk Watch.

5 Osprey
9 Sharp-shinned Hawks
16 Broad-winged Hawks
4 American Kestrels
2 Bald Eagles ( immature)
1 Unidentified Raptor

Also observed were several local Bald Eagles, Osprey, Kestrels, Turkey Vultures and two Merlin.

A pair of Merlin, male and female Kestrel, as well as, a Sharp- shinned Hawk repeatedly flew past the watch and perched on some of the nearby snags, providing excellent looks.

Briggitte Noel was an official observer.

Tomorrows hawk forecast looks good.

More details of todays counts as well as monthly totals and season  totals can be found at hawkcount.org.

This project is supported by the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund.

Todd Watts
506 529-4656
fishbird@nb.sympatico.ca

Bay of Fundy's Simpson Hill and Karen's Cache Receive High Praise from Geocachers

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From UTube: Filmed by Sarah Bood of St Andrews, this shows young Valerie trekking up Simpson Hill in Bayside, NB last Earth Day, 2008, discovering Karen's Cache, (GC-NAVV) ,and finally reaching Table Top.



And from ...

Location: New Brunswick, Canada
wileylakers found Karen's Cache (Traditional Cache) at 8/26/2009

Log Date: 8/26/2009
Ascent was great exercise and absolutely worth the amazing view! The walking sticks were a great idea. Thanks.

Spent some time just enjoying the spirituality of the place. Wish we lived close enough to visit it often. Karen must have been very special.

TFTC
T- pin and travel bug(M26QJP)
L-sun and house

Visit this log entry at the below address:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=a2d70f3e-1117-4168-b11c-bc4272b4cd94

Visit Karen's Cache
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=8c7ccb9d-dd4e-4b66-a110-08b333f9111e

Bay of Fundy's Machias Seal Island offers puffin-watchers paradise

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Last Updated: Monday, August 24, 2009 | 4:28 PM AT 

By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon, CBC News

Atlantic puffins lure birdwatchers, naturalists and photographers to Machias Seal Island, a migratory bird sanctuary in the Bay of Fundy. (Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon/CBC)

Machias Seal Island, a remote bird sanctuary in the Bay of Fundy, provides birdwatchers, naturalists and photographers with a rare glimpse of one of Canada’smost popular seabirds.

The rocky island, located 18 kilometres southwest of Grand Manan, serves as a breeding site for thousands of birds each year, including Atlantic puffins.

About 1,300 pairs of puffins visit Machias Seal Island during the spring and summer to breed and nest.

Puffins, with their striking orange beaks, and matching orange webbed feet, lure bird enthusiasts to travel to great lengths to see them.

Only about eight hectares in area, Machias Seal Island is a designated migratory bird sanctuary, maintained by the Canadian Wildlife Service, so access is restricted.

Sea Watch Tours, out of Grand Manan, is the only Canadian company with permission to land. It offers tours six days a week between late June and early August, weather permitting.

However, it can only take 15 people a day, so reservations are required for anyone who wants to catch a glimpse of the puffins.

Other nesting birds that attract visitors to the island include razorbill auks and common murres.

The trip from Seal Cove Wharf takes about two hours and is not for the faint of stomach when the water is rough.

Occasional sightings of other birds, such as shearwaters, Wilson storm petrels, phalaropes, jeagers, northern gannet, black guillemots and eider ducks help pass the time. Passengers may also see seals, harbour porpoises, and whales en route.

Machias Seal Island lighthouse is the first signal to visitors that they’re approaching the island.


Read entire article here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/08/24/f-nb-machias-puffins.html

15 - 20 Bay of Fundy Right Whales Move Inshore at Quoddy

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From Danielle's blog - All I can say is WOW, this will be one of those days that I will never forget. Our 10:00 am trip started with the young humpback we saw on August 25th and 4 fin whales inshore but the boat traffic quickly increased and John made the decision to head offshore in search of more whales. We headed around the Owen Basin but there were no blows to be seen (we were thinking on the ebb tide we may find humpbacks in the Grand Manan Channel). There was word of right whales showing up inshore as well....but inshore means boat traffic so we headed over towards the Wolves still looking. Then we spotted a few blows and saw 2 tails come up! We thought they were humpbacks and made our way over....we were wrong, they were North Atlantic right whales!! We counted 5 close by and could see many more blowing to the east (right whales have a unique V-shaped blow). We even had a right whale breach close by! A conservative count would be 15-20 in total!! Below are some pictures of the right whales from the 10:00 am departure.


Read the entire post and see all of the pics at: http://quoddylinkmarine.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-love-my-job.html

Basking Shark in Head Harbour Passage

There was a big basking shark near the seawall in Wilson's Beach yesterday, August 26th. It was near the edges of the waterline, far up in the cove. Many people went to see it.  Joyce

 

Photo Credit: wikipedia.com

Action in Head Harbour Passage today, August 26th.

 Lesley and I went out with Mac Greene on Island Cruises today hoping for right whales to photograph, but it was too rough once we got out a bit in the bay and he had to turn around. Inside Head Harbour Passage there was a lot of action today. There were tuna jumping all over the passage in any direction you cared to look and there were a lot of porpoise all over the passage. There were three, and probably five finbacks inside the passage going in circles, and there was a large finback just outside the passage, It was a busy place, I have photos to come. Joyce

 

ImageCredit: wikipedia.com